Jeffrey Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then organizes the sketches into the following categories: “Love It” (potentially Best of the Season-worthy), “Keep It” (perfectly adequate), or “Leave It” (in need of a rewrite, to say the least). Then he concludes with assessments of the host and musical guest.
Love It
Terry Fink – One successful formula for a hilarious Update guest segment is a character who has a habit or personality quirk that justifies a bunch of wacky dialogue. And we have an excellent new example from Alex Moffat as film critic Terry Fink, who makes sure to be tripping on plenty of LSD whenever he sees a new flick (or just its poster in the subway or the middle of Times Square). Thanks to him, I now know about Dumbo‘s “touching jihadi message.”
Jeffrey Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then organizes the sketches into the following categories: “Love It” (potentially Best of the Season-worthy), “Keep It” (perfectly adequate), or “Leave It” (in need of a rewrite, to say the least). Then he concludes with assessments of the host and musical guest.
Love It
Discover Card – There’s a current ad campaign about people reaching their doubles at customer service, and there’s a current hit horror movie about people being targeted by their doubles. Somebody at SNL made the connection and astutely decided, “Let’s mash ’em up!” And lo and behold, we have this hilarious commercial parody in which it turns out that the you’s of Discover Card are actually the Tethered of Us, and Ego Nwodim finally gets a showcase performance.
It’s good to know that everyone can be so wonderfully, specifically overwrought in the Test Prep sketch.
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–The Beach Bum (Theatrically Semi-Wide)
–Dumbo (Theatrically Nationwide)
TV
–Abby’s Series Premiere (March 28 on NBC) – I forgot to include this last week!
–Barry Season 2 Premiere (March 31 on HBO)
–The Twilight Zone Reboot Series Premiere (April 1 on CBS All Access) – Jordan Peele is at it again!
–The Last O.G. Season 2 Premiere (April 2 on TBS)
TV
–Happy! Season 2 Premiere (March 27 on SyFy)
–Jane the Virgin Season 5 Premiere (March 27 on The CW) – Final season of one of TV’s best shows!
–What We Do in the Shadows Series Premiere (March 27 on FX)
TV
–Arrested Development Season 5 Part 2 (Premieres March 15 on Netflix) – The final (?) episodes!
–Shrill Season 1 (Premieres March 15 on Hulu) – Starring Aidy Bryant!
–Turn Up Charlie Season 1 (Premieres March 15 on Netflix)
Comedy
–Amy Schumer Growing (Premieres March 19 on Netflix)
Sports on TV
-March Madness (March 19-April 8 on CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV)
Jeffrey Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then organizes the sketches into the following categories: “Love It” (potentially Best of the Season-worthy), “Keep It” (perfectly adequate), or “Leave It” (in need of a rewrite, to say the least). Then he concludes with assessments of the host and musical guest.
Love It
Can I Play That? – The push to avoid having actors of one identity group play characters of any other identity group is, I believe, generally well-intentioned, and it has done real good in terms of achieving better representation in the entertainment industry. But it can also be taken to ridiculous lengths that forget that the point of acting is to (typically) play someone other than yourself. But at least the tying-oneself-in-knots and constriction that result from that ridiculousness are, we now know, a great formula for an SNL game show parody. This could make for a decent recurring sketch, considering that, even though the joke has already been fully established, these controversies and conundrums tend to keep cropping up.
During my time at News Cult, I had a weekly recommendation column called “Entertainment Essentials.” Since I posted the last edition back in January, I’ve been a little worried that I haven’t been fully keeping track of all the movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I want to check out. So I decided to launch a new column, called “Entertainment To-Do List,” which is basically a weekly list of all the upcoming (or recently released) content I am planning on consuming. Its main purpose is so that I don’t forget about anything. And for anyone reading, if you happen to see something that you believe you’ll find worthwhile as well, then all the better!
Movies –Captain Marvel (Theatrically Nationwide)
–Gloria Bell (Limited Theatrically)
TV
–KRFT Punk’s Political Party (Premieres midnight on March 8 [technically March 9 early morning] on Adult Swim)
Jeffrey Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then organizes the sketches into the following categories: “Love It” (potentially Best of the Season-worthy), “Keep It” (perfectly adequate), or “Leave It” (in need of a rewrite, to say the least). Then he concludes with assessments of the host and musical guest.
Love It
Toilet Death Ejector – I’m going to say it, folks. I’m walking on hallowed ground here, but I believe it’s warranted: Toilet Death Ejector is on the same level as Old Glory Insurance. It took nearly 25 years, but SNL finally innovated another bona fide solution for what ails today’s seniors. There is a strong chance that this fake product will enter the cultural lexicon as shorthand for the embarrassing death that we all want to avoid.
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